In a May 4 update on the foiled Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, potential school shooting, the Wisconsin Department of Justice revealed that the suspect was carrying a pellet rifle.
“The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is continuing to investigate the incident that occurred in the Village of Mount Horeb, Wis. on the morning of Wednesday, May 1, 2024,” the DOJ wrote in a May 4 update posted to its website.
The release did not name the suspect, but he was named by a law enforcement source and multiple media outlets, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, as Damian Haglund, 14, an 8th grader at the school. Haglund left behind a website with a manifesto of sorts and social media accounts on which he repeatedly mentioned the Columbine and Sandy Hook school shootings and made references to Jews and Nazis.
The release reveals that “The weapon recovered on scene was determined to be a Ruger .177 caliber pellet rifle” but says the suspect was shot and killed by law enforcement after pointing what appeared to be a long gun at them.
The DOJ provided the first detailed chronology and timeline of the incident.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Suspect, Damian Haglund, Was Seen ‘Moving Toward Mount Horeb Middle School With a Backpack’ & ‘What Appeared to Be a long Gun,’ the Release Says
At approximately 11:11 a.m., on May 1, “a citizen called 911 after witnessing a subject moving toward Mount Horeb Middle School with a backpack and what appeared to be a long gun,” the release says.
Mount Horeb Police Department officers “responded to the school where they located a subject who matched the description in the area of the middle school, east of the main entrance at 900 Garfield Street, Mount Horeb, Wisconsin,” the release says.
“Officers directed the subject to drop the weapon, but the subject did not comply. The subject pointed the weapon at the officers, after which law enforcement discharged their firearms, striking the subject. Lifesaving measures were deployed but the subject died on scene,” the release continues.
“No law enforcement officers or witnesses were physically injured during the incident,” the release says. “Involved law enforcement remain on administrative leave, per agency policy.”
DOJ Says the Officers Were Wearing Body Cameras
Mount Horeb School DistrictMount Horeb Middle School, near where an active shooter was stopped, according to the district.
Although the body camera video has not been released, the DOJ says officers were wearing it during the incident.
DOJ’s news release says,
DCI is leading this investigation and is assisted by the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, Wisconsin State Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Dane County Sheriff’s Office, Verona Police Department, Cottage Grove Police Department, Madison Police Department, Monona Police Department, Fitchburg Police Department, Iowa County Sheriff’s Office, Green County Sheriff’s Office, Blue Mounds Police Department, Cross Plains Police Department, Shorewood Hills Police Department, a DCI Crime Response Specialist, and members of the DCI Digital Evidence Unit. All involved law enforcement are fully cooperating with DCI during this investigation.
The DOJ has not released a motive. No students were injured.
In the manifesto, Haglund wrote that he related to Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza.
“I’m going to be honest, School…shooters, weird comparison, but I relate to Adam Lanza the most out of the scum bunch. Everyone else picks Eric, or the popular ones, but Adam Lanza is really, I see myself in him,” he wrote on the website. “I have similar views, less OCD for sure. I wasn’t…touched as a child like he was thanks be to God. But he’s the ‘loud when I wan’t to talk’ introvert.” The X page makes repeated references to Columbine shooter Dylan Klebold.
“Happy 420,” read a post on the X page on April 20, the date of the Columbine High School massacre. The page also contains references to guns and LGBT and Jewish people, as well as Nazis.
Haglund’s website is still live on the Internet, although authorities have not publicly discussed its existence.
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